Every single day five teenagers die violent deaths in the United States of America and the rate among black teenagers is four to seven times higher than for any other ethnic group.  Mostly those black teenagers are killed by other black teenagers—94% according to the Department of Justice—so it’s not a racial war.

This is a violent country, partly because of our nature as independent-minded obstinate individualists and partly because fifty years of liberal social experimentation has turned our inner cities into hopeless, dysfunctional, war zones.

Fly over the city of Detroit sometime—you’ll get sick to your stomach.  It looks worse than Baghdad or Kabul:



Then, when you start trying to reassure yourself that Detroit is a special case, go look at some other city, like maybe East St. Louis, Illinois:



That boarded-up shell on the left is a city library, by the way.

All of our cities look the same: big shiny office buildings clustered in the center, surrounded by a thin layer of supporting shops and stores, surrounded by desolation and decay.

In addition to the five teenagers who are victims of homicide every day, another four teenagers commit suicide.  It’s not poverty causing those suicides.  People can thrive and succeed without money—it’s when you take away their hope that they wilt.  There are no jobs for teenagers because government regulations make employers shy away from exactly the kinds of jobs that teenagers used to fill.  Meanwhile the schools are cesspools of incompetence, apathy, and teachers’ union entitlement so teens lack any constructive outlet for their time.  That’s why Trayvon Martin was walking down the street with a bag of Skittles talking on a cellphone February 26.  Fifty years ago his father would have said, “You’re suspended from school for two weeks?  Well, son, if you’re not going to school you’re working!” and made him get a job for two weeks, but jobs don’t exist for American 17-year-olds anymore.

We did that.  Us.  The adults.  We took the American experiment and pissed on it so many times that teenagers are left with nothing but video games, trips to the mall, and walking the streets looking for trouble.  We did that with our minimum wage laws and our health insurance mandates and our twenty layers of bureaucracy piled atop every job and all the various & sundry employee rights that make hiring a human being in America—especially a teenager—the absolute last resort for a business.

Even if you wanted to pay a kid to sweep out your store after school, you’d be crazy to do it.

But the real news story about Trayvon Martin’s death is not the tragedy of an unfulfilled young life snuffed out prematurely—it’s not really news when something happens nine or ten times a day.  The real story is the race-hustling vultures who swooped in to feed on the carcass of Trayvon’s body.  Our first black president needed a distraction to keep people from looking at his job performance, the media needed to help him succeed to justify their journalistic failures in 2008, and the people who make their living by fanning the flickering flames of race turmoil—people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Spike Lee—needed something to make them matter again.

Racism is dead as an issue in America, kept alive in name only by the carrion feeders who profit from it.  The end was natural, peaceful, and somewhat magical.  There isn’t a family reunion in any ethnic group that doesn’t display faces of another group and anybody who thought old folks wouldn’t accept new ways didn’t understand how Grandpa would react when his favorite grandson turned out to be a different color.  Family is family, the heart knows what the heart knows, and racism disappeared in America with the arrival of tens of millions of beautiful multiracial children.

Only the desperate efforts of the race hustlers keep racism alive.

Jackson, Sharpton, and Lee are vultures gone too long without a meal.  Sharpton, whose pinnacle of existence was hawking the phony Tawana Brawley hate crime twenty five years ago, hosts a show on MSNBC that nobody watches where he proves daily that he’s the dumbest man on television; Jesse Jackson has devolved into a running joke about AC/DC sex and delinquent child support; and who can name a Spike Lee movie in the last ten years?  If Lee wasn’t a Knicks fan people would be wondering if he’s still alive but then along comes the death of a 17-year-old black teenager and down he swoops.  Here’s one of hundreds of his Tweets about Trayvon Martin:

“America The Beautiful, A Country Where A Black Teenager Can Be Shot And Killed Coming From A 7-Eleven Buying A Ice Tea And A Bag Of Skittles. Why Is George Zimmerman Still FREE? WTF?”

George Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch guy who had the unfortunate confrontation with Trayvon and ended up shooting him dead.  We don’t know exactly what happened—we’ll never know for sure—and the race hustlers are definitely not interested in finding out.  They’ve got a bandwagon to drive!  This might be their last hurrah!  The New Black Panther Party, supporters and protectorates of Barack Obama since 2008, put out a wanted poster offering a $10,000 reward for George Zimmerman dead or alive, then got nervous and scaled it back to $10,000 “for a legal citizen’s arrest,” whatever that means:



Spike Lee jumped into the fray to help bounty hunters bag their prey by Tweeting Zimmerman’s home address over and over again—apparently he doesn’t have a movie in the works so he’s got time on his hands.  His 240,000 Twitter followers re-tweeted the address as instructed, making sure that vindictive thugs all over America would be able to find Zimmerman... but unfortunately it was the wrong address.  Spike Tweeted the address of some poor woman named Elaine and her husband David, both in their seventies, who live a couple blocks over from George Zimmerman.  Oops.  Mr. Lee might be facing a lawsuit and if something happens to Elaine or David who are currently in hiding because of death threats it could be the kind of lawsuit that bankrupts him.



So far Spike Lee refuses to apologize or correct the record and requests for such are getting nothing but a “no comment” from his film company, 40 Acres and a Mule.

40 Acres and a Jackass would be a better name.

The president got involved when somebody asked him a question about the Trayvon Martin shooting in the Rose Garden.  The question wasn’t unexpected although he pretended it was.  Everything this president does in public is scripted, questions and answers, so apparently he wanted to get involved.  Here’s what he said:

“Well, I'm the head of the executive branch, and the Attorney General reports to me so I've got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we're not impairing any investigation that's taking place right now.... But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin.  If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.  And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

In other words, he doesn’t know what happened and he admits he shouldn’t be talking about it but the police in Sanford, Florida, don’t seem to be interested in “getting to the bottom of exactly what happened.”  And by volunteering the irrelevant observation that Trayvon looked like him, well, he was announcing that this was, indeed, a racial matter—otherwise why mention the kid’s looks?  Does it matter what Trayvon looks like?  Isn’t this a tragedy regardless of his looks?  Our post-racial president apparently didn’t learn anything from the Henry Gates affair where he also admitted he shouldn’t say anything but then immediately called a Cambridge police officer stupid.

The Obama campaign isn’t only trying to profit from Trayvon’s death by capitalizing on the race issue to win votes, they’re literally trying to profit from it.  They’re selling hoodies like the one that has become the symbol of Trayvon Martin:



Here’s what the Obama 2012 campaign Tweeted Monday:

“Let everyone know whose team you’re on for 2012 with today’s merchandise steal: the college-style hooded sweatshirt. OFA.BO/QXiDgb”

These are some cold-blooded people.  They see the death of a 17-year-old and they think, “Let’s use this to get votes and let’s make money off it, too!”  (Note: embarrassed by the bad publicity, they backed off their hoodie sale.)

The Obama campaign doesn’t have a monopoly on cold-bloodedness.  Trayvon’s mother saw everybody hawking hoodies and quickly trademarked two phrases that people might want to put on those hoodies to make them sell better: “I Am Trayvon” and “Justice for Trayvon.”

I can’t make myself criticize a mother who just lost her son but dang...

The gray hoodie became the symbol of this affair because of a widely circulated photograph of Trayvon wearing a hooded gray sweatshirt.  That photograph also became a symbol of something else: the mainstream media’s cynical effort to lie about, invent, and hype a racial angle to this news story.  The original photo was published in the Miami Herald but the media thought it contradicted their storyline about Trayvon being an innocent little youngster so they quickly doctored it, lightening his coloring, smoothing his skin, and narrowing his face to make him look more like a kid.  Here’s the original side by side with the one seen in most newspapers:



To me, the kid on the left is a good looking kid and it’s a tragedy he died, but to the racists in the media the lighter-skinned kid on the right is a bigger loss.  Apparently.  I guess.  I don’t know, really, why they doctored the photo or why they’re still running with the fake everybody knows is fake.  It gets more and more difficult to feel disappointment about today’s journalists because they fail us so often, in so many ways, and so doggone consistently.

Even worse than the doctored hoodie photo is the ubiquitous double photo showing a ten-year-old Trayvon side by side with a mug shot of George Zimmerman, also from years ago, which handily fits the propaganda about Zimmerman being the only possible bad guy in this affair:



Talk about false imagery!  It’s hard to imagine a worse job of photo selection, yet this side-by-side is the most common image seen by Americans as they read and listen to stories about the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  Clearly, looking at this picture, a big evil thug killed an innocent little kid.

Since we now know what the 6’3” Trayvon really looked like, let’s see what the 5’9” George Zimmerman really looks like.  Here’s the old mug shot side by side with a more current photo:



Now let’s put the two protagonists in this horrible tragedy side by side, as our so-called journalists should have been doing all along:



The media also misled with words, or course.  It’s doubtful there would even be a controversy if the media hadn’t created one.  The media invented facts until America believed that Trayvon was an innocent little kid simply walking back to his father’s house with a bag of Skittles, minding his own business, when a racist white guy named George Zimmerman started following him—then Zimmerman called 911 and wouldn’t stop following Trayvon even when the 911 dispatcher told him to, and instigated a confrontation so he could use his gun, whereupon he shot and killed Trayvon—then the police didn’t detain him, let alone arrest him—they just let him take his gun and go home.

None of that is true.  None of it.

According to the police report, backed up at crucial points by an eyewitness who also called 911, Zimmerman, who is not white but rather a Hispanic man from a multi-racial family who tutors black youngsters along with his wife, did back off when the 911 dispatcher told him to, but Trayvon, who was suspended from school for the third time—this time for ten days because he was caught with drug paraphernalia and an empty baggie containing marijuana residue—came after Zimmerman, confronted him, and then attacked him, breaking Zimmerman’s nose and knocking him to the ground with an initial blow, whereupon Trayvon jumped on him and started slamming his head into the ground.  Then Trayvon went for Zimmerman’s gun, according to Zimmerman, and the end result was a shooting death.  Afterward the police detained and questioned Zimmerman for five straight hours, then brought him back the next day and questioned him for hours again.  His story never wavered in the face of professional interrogators and his story meshed with the story from the eyewitness so the police didn’t arrest him.

The eyewitness didn’t see the initial blow or the actual shooting but he did see Trayvon on top of Zimmerman and says Zimmerman was screaming for help, and according to Trayvon’s Twitter stream, now deleted, Trayvon has done something similar in the past, to a bus driver.  It’s actually a game among black teenagers.  It’s called the “knockout game” and it involves black teenagers who take turns trying to hit unsuspecting white or Asian bystanders so hard they are knocked out with one blow.  The picture you won’t see in any of the stories about Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman is a picture of 72-year-old Hoang Nguyen, who was killed last April by a black teenager playing the knockout game.

There’s no way to know if Trayvon was playing the knockout game on February 26 and there’s no way to be sure Zimmerman’s account is totally accurate but certainly the facts suggest that Trayvon was not blameless, Zimmerman is not a racist, and Sanford police were not overly quick about accepting Zimmerman’s version of events.

Unfortunately this isn’t about facts anymore.  This is about race hustlers trying to profit from anger and hate, and drumming some up when there’s a shortage—people like Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) who decided to sensationalize the tragedy some more yesterday by giving a speech in Congress wearing a hoodie:



He was kicked out for violating House rules but no doubt he’s a hero back home.  That’s a tragedy, too.


From Reno, Nevada, USA        Tweet

March 30, 2012 - Trayvon Martin has a lawyer. He is saying somethinh different. Why don't you believe him? - Daryl M., Kansas

J.P. replies: Trayvon Martin can hardly have a lawyer since he’s dead, and whoever the Martin lawyer represents he is unlikey to know anything about Zimmerman’s medical records.

March 30, 2012 - My point exactly!!! Until we see a medical report he is telling a lie!! Lawyers will lie facts don't. Prove me and millions of citizens wrong!!! - Daryl M., Kansas

J.P. replies: Until you see a medical report the lawyer is lying?  C’mon, Daryl, you know better than that.

March 29, 2012 - My congratulations are offered for what is obviously a very comprehensive and well organized site of conservatism. It is refreshing to find a fellow Renoite doing such work, especially the focus on National and world politics. The work you just did on the Zimmerman-Martin conflict was well done. If it were me writing, I would focus more on the historically causative aspects of the meeting, dating all the way back to the Woodstock era. I am the founder of the mythical Breakaway Republic of Chilcoot and the Chilcoot National Archives. My only outlets are a Facebook page using my real name and a YouTube channel under the fake name of Russian origin, NarodnieMstiteli. My favorite target is Jackson, his fans, drug promoters, and most likely the exhaustive list of Hollywood murderers that you seem to have covered well in the Hollywood section. You will find some rants on the subject of Jackson in both places. - Don B., Reno

March 29, 2012 - Again..there is no medical record of him having a broken nose. The lawyer hasn't even seen Zimmerman according to his interview. 4 weeks have gone by and he said he hasn't discussed the events of the case. Somebody is telling a lie. Again...If you are innocent then take to trial and see. If the evidence is so overwhelming...yea right!! He is waiting for his Judge father to save him but I guarantee it want happen!! - Daryl M., Kansas

J.P. replies: How in the world would you know whether there are medical records or not?  I’m no great fan of lawyers but I highly doubt any lawyer would invent a broken nose in a national interview.

March 29, 2012 - You can write the article but you want answer a question. Again ..tell me where there is proof he broke his nose. The tape doesn't show anything. Stop these brilliant passages of lies and propoganda. - Daryl M., Kansas

J.P. replies: During an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, Zimmerman’s lawyer stated that his client was treated for a broken nose the next day and his head should have received stitches but it took too long to get to a doctor.  (That’s probably because the police questioned him for so long.  Stitches can only be used to close a wound within a certain number of hours—after that the doctors won’t close a wound with stitches.  I’ve been there.)  As for the “tape,” you’re still being bamboozled by ABC, who provided the tape along with commentary implying there was no head wound.  The Daily Caller blew up a still shot and you can clearly see a large wound on the back of Zimmerman’s head.  Stop listening to ABC and start thinking for yourself.  Get the facts, stop believing the nonsense from the race hustlers who are trying to cause a ruckus, and accept the possibility that Trayvon may have been the aggressor.

March 29, 2012 - This has earned you a spot on the IDIOT OF WEEK list. It screams racism. You heard the tape. You saw the video ... no blood or broken nose. There is no medical report of a broken nose or blood with the police or a hospital. Its funny no one has said who Zimmermans parents are. Being the son of a judge and a court clerk has its privileges... calling in favors to keep your son out of jail. If you are innocent why hide. The longer he hides the more people will look for you. He would be better being judged by 12 than carried by 6!!! Here is question. Why are people of color the only people who are profiled? Shouldn't we be vigilant of serial rapist and killers??? Oh... those are white men... they don't count!!! Keep up the great work Jesse. They are afraid of the pressure. Thanks for your efforts Al. Like this article its a bunch of lies but as Al would say... WE GOTCHA!! Don't arrest him and see what happens!! - Daryl M., Kansas

J.P. replies: With your “He would be better being judged by 12 than carried by 6!!!” and your “Don't arrest him and see what happens!!” I think you answered your own question about why he’s in hiding.

March 29, 2012 - Really... are you absolutely serious! When I began reading this article I was not sure if I should....fearing that it would be another ridiculous attempt to minimize what took place on Feb.26 After reading your entire article that you just reaffrimed that you... yourself... along with George Zimmerman and the Sanford Police Department (by the way had they done their job u probably would not even no about this tragedy) all have preconceived thoughts about young black men... after making the statement that no one knows exactly what happen in this case... you didn't hesitate to... dish out your assumtions that he could have been playing the knockout game... listen... we do live in a violent world... no can deny that... we also live in a country where you can kill a black a black man in cold blood and it is automatically assumed that this man some how someway he must have provoked the shooter... it does not matter if the shooter was white black or hispanic... in america black mans life is not important as the rest of the human race... quit pretending like u don't know that... you had a lot to say about Sharpton... Jackson... Lee... and President Obama for standing with the family in this case... you obviously don't get it... it is a tragedy every young life taking is a tragedy whether it happens every hour on the hour... there has been an in justice that needs to be corrected... this is not a post racial society.... at all so u can't stop it with that nonsense... its alive and very well... so sorry sir... were not stupid as u think we are... or as you hope we are or want us to be... just because you talk fast... type fast and press summit... don't think we don't know that people like you still exist with in your so called post racist world that does not exist because of people like you sir... we are a human race... and that family wants justice for their son... and they would want the same thing if the shooter was black okay... if the sanford police had any regard for this young mans life... and not the killer walk free... race would have been brought into play... because THE FACTS are if Trayvon was the adult and Zimmerman was the dead child... Trayvon cried self defense... he would have never been allowed to leave the police station... its completely wrong. so quit trying to rally supports for your own hateful views and recognize the in justice... Sharpton,Jackson,Lee... are just a few voices of many... its not about them... I can tell by your tone in this article I can tell you aren't sin free... so look inside at your own demons and try and see some wrong in you... and work on that instead of spreading more hate in your... post racial world... what a joke! No one race has been... more divide and manipulated and suppress that the black race so I can see why... today its scary for white people such as yourself... to accept that we have a voice, jobs, degrees, millions and billions but sir we won't be silienced by intimidation every again so think before you speak because yo sound pretty limited in your thought process... I last but not least... I read your entire article with and open mind... and from beginning to end it got more ridiculous... it makes me very sad. - TM, Hawaii

March 29, 2012 - Your blog was linked by Doug Ross and, I am thankful to you for putting everything in a truthful persepctive! You are absolutely correct to state that our usual 'race hustlers' once again stirring up racial hatred towards whites; it can't end well. I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't part of the re-election strategy by a guy who has no record to run on other than failure and, cronyism. Thanks again; I hope you don't mind posting this on my facebook page! - Cali, Florida

J.P. replies: I don’t mind—go for it.

March 29, 2012 - WOW! Jim, you knocked this one out of the park! This article should be sent to Rick Santorum & the RNC - All of America needs to read it. - Doug R., Reno

March 29, 2012 - Bravo! One of your best! - Tim L., Texas